Japanese pharma invests nearly $100 million in Vietnamese medicine maker

Tokyo based medicine giant Taisho has acquired a 24.4 percent stake in DHG.

Foreign shareholders in DHG Pharmaceutical JSC have sold their combined stake worth over $98 million to Japan's Taisho Pharmaceutical, making it the second largest shareholder in DHG with a 24.4 percent interest.

On June 30, Taisho purchased over 21 million shares from 34 foreign shareholders at VND103,000 ($4.63) per share, according to the Vietnam Securities Depository.

Vietnam’s sovereign wealth fund the State Capital Investment Corporation (SCIC) is the major shareholder with a 43.3 percent stake.

Most of the foreign shareholders that have cashed out are linked to VinaCapital, Dragon Capital and other foreign funds including Nikko New Age Asia Equity, Norges Bank, Fullerton VPIC Fund and Portal Global Limited. The deal comes a month after DHG decided to pay a cash dividend of 35 percent.

Taisho Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., under Taisho Pharmaceutical Holdings in Japan, has total assets of JPY759 billion (about $7.1 billion). The drug manufacturer reported revenue of JPY290 billion ($2.8 billion) and the holding company reached post-tax profit of JPY22.47 billion ($219 million) in 2015. In Vietnam, it established the Taisho Vietnam factory in 1999 from where it distributes the energy drink Lipovitan.